66

CHAPTER 2 Motion Along a Straight Line

Figure P2.70

vPT 5 25.0 m/s

a 5 20.100 m/s2

vFT 5 15.0 m/s

200 m

the same track (Fig. P2.70). The freight train is traveling at

15.0 m>s in the same direction as the passenger train. The engineer of the passenger train immediately applies the brakes, causing
a constant acceleration of 0.100 m>s2 in a direction opposite to the
trains velocity, while the freight train continues with constant
speed. Take x = 0 at the location of the front of the passenger train
when the engineer applies the brakes. (a) Will the cows nearby witness a collision? (b) If so, where will it take place? (c) On a single
graph, sketch the positions of the front of the passenger train and
the back of the freight train.
2.71 ... Large cockroaches can run as fast as 1.50 m>s in short
bursts. Suppose you turn on the light in a cheap motel and see one
scurrying directly away from you at a constant 1.50 m>s. If you
start 0.90 m behind the cockroach with an initial speed of
0.80 m>s toward it, what minimum constant acceleration would
you need to catch up with it when it has traveled 1.20 m, just short
of safety under a counter?
2.72 .. Two cars start 200 m apart and drive toward each other at
a steady 10 m>s. On the front of one of them, an energetic
grasshopper jumps back and forth between the cars (he has strong
legs!) with a constant horizontal velocity of 15 m>s relative to the
ground. The insect jumps the instant he lands, so he spends no time
resting on either car. What total distance does the grasshopper
travel before the cars hit?
2.73 . An automobile and a truck start from rest at the same
instant, with the automobile initially at some distance behind the
truck. The truck has a constant acceleration of 2.10 m>s2, and the
automobile an acceleration of 3.40 m>s2. The automobile overtakes the truck after the truck has moved 40.0 m. (a) How much
time does it take the automobile to overtake the truck? (b) How far
was the automobile behind the truck initially? (c) What is the
speed of each when they are abreast? (d) On a single graph, sketch
the position of each vehicle as a function of time. Take x = 0 at
the initial location of the truck.
2.74 ... Two stunt drivers drive directly toward each other. At
time t = 0 the two cars are a distance D apart, car 1 is at rest, and
car 2 is moving to the left with speed v0. Car 1 begins to move at
t = 0, speeding up with a constant acceleration ax. Car 2 continues to move with a constant velocity. (a) At what time do the two
cars collide? (b) Find the speed of car 1 just before it collides with
car 2. (c) Sketch x-t and vx-t graphs for car 1 and car 2. For each
of the two graphs, draw the curves for both cars on the same set
of axes.
2.75 .. A marble is released from one rim of a hemispherical
bowl of diameter 50.0 cm and rolls down and up to the opposite
rim in 10.0 s. Find (a) the average speed and (b) the average velocity of the marble.

2.76 .. CALC An objects velocity is measured to be vx 1t2 =

a - bt 2, where a = 4.00 m>s and b = 2.00 m>s3. At t = 0 the
object is at x = 0. (a) Calculate the objects position and acceleration
as functions of time. (b) What is the objects maximum positive displacement from the origin?
2.77 .. Passing. The driver of a car wishes to pass a truck that is
traveling at a constant speed of 20.0 m>s (about 45 mi>h). Initially, the car is also traveling at 20.0 m>s and its front bumper is
24.0 m behind the trucks rear bumper. The car accelerates at a
constant 0.600 m>s2, then pulls back into the trucks lane when the
rear of the car is 26.0 m ahead of the front of the truck. The car is
4.5 m long and the truck is 21.0 m long. (a) How much time is
required for the car to pass the truck? (b) What distance does the
car travel during this time? (c) What is the nal speed of the car?
2.78 .. On Planet X, you drop a
25-kg stone from rest and measure Figure P2.78
its speed at various times. Then
you use the data you obtained to v (m/s)
construct a graph of its speed v as a
function of time t (Fig. P2.78).
30
From the information in the graph,
20
answer the following questions: (a)
10
What is g on Planet X? (b) An
t (s)
O
1
2
astronaut drops a piece of equipment from rest out of the landing
module, 3.5 m above the surface of Planet X. How long will it take
this equipment to reach the ground, and how fast will it be moving
when it gets there? (c) How fast would an astronaut have to project
an object straight upward to reach a height of 18.0 m above the
release point, and how long would it take to reach that height?
2.79 ... CALC The acceleration of a particle is given by ax 1t2 =
-2.00 m>s2 + 13.00 m>s32t. (a) Find the initial velocity v0x such
that the particle will have the same x-coordinate at t = 4.00 s as it
had at t = 0. (b) What will be the velocity at t = 4.00 s?
2.80 . Egg Drop. You are on
Figure P2.80
the roof of the physics building,
46.0 m above the ground (Fig.
P2.80). Your physics professor,
who is 1.80 m tall, is walking
alongside the building at a constant speed of 1.20 m>s. If you
wish to drop an egg on your pro46.0 m
fessors head, where should the
professor be when you release
the egg? Assume that the egg is
v 5 1.20 m/s
in free fall.
2.81 . A certain volcano on
earth can eject rocks vertically to 1.80 m
a maximum height H. (a) How
high (in terms of H) would these rocks go if a volcano on Mars
ejected them with the same initial velocity? The acceleration due
to gravity on Mars is 3.71 m>s2, and you can neglect air resistance
on both planets. (b) If the rocks are in the air for a time T on earth,
for how long (in terms of T) will they be in the air on Mars?
2.82 .. An entertainer juggles balls while doing other activities.
In one act, she throws a ball vertically upward, and while it is in
the air, she runs to and from a table 5.50 m away at a constant
speed of 2.50 m>s, returning just in time to catch the falling ball.
(a) With what minimum initial speed must she throw the ball
upward to accomplish this feat? (b) How high above its initial
position is the ball just as she reaches the table?